NEW DELHI. June 5: India will seek quality rather than quantity in foreign assistance when donors hold their annual review of aid to New Delhi next month, officials say. reports Reuter.

The focus is not reality on the quantity of the commitments. Finance Secretary Montex Singh Ahluwalia told reporters on Friday.

"The emphasis Is on the kind of commitments."

Ahluwalia, the Finance Ministry's top civil servant, said it was to soon to say how much would be pledged by donor nations and multilateral institutions at this year's meeting, the main part of which will be held in Paris on July 1 and 2.

Indian officials have been consulting with the World Bank and are about to start preliminary talks with donor countries.

Western diplomats say the level of offerings this year is unlikely to be very different from last year, when India obtained pledges of 7.4 billion US dollars.

Ahluwalia said India actually

took up only 4.2 billion US dollars of that money, although it had not cut aid spending.

He said India's strong foreign exchange reserves meant the country no longer needed the fast-disbursing loans which helped haul New Delhi out of a balance of payments crisis in mid 1991.

At that time, India's foreign currency reserves had dwindled to Just 1.0 billton US dollars — barely enough for two weeks of Imports. Now they have climbed 101 more than 19 billion US dollars.

Senior finance ministry official N K Singh said India only used some 600 million US dollars of the 2.3 billion US dollars pledged last year in fast-disbursing loans.

"There Is a qualitative change In the external balance of payments position." Ahluwalia said. We will not be asking for fast-disbursing assistance.'

Instead, officials said India would be looking for more medium-term aid on the best terms available.

"We'll be seeking as much

as possible of the grant-and IDA (International Development Association) type commitments. and longer maturity." Singh said. The IDA is the soft-loan arm of the World Bank.

For the first time. India will also be using the forum to woo private capital as well as official aid.

It is the first country to Involve private investors in Its annua] aid meeting, formerly known as the aid India consortium but renamed this year as the India development forum.

"It represents the kind of transition we re trying to being about in the economy." Singh said.

The government of Prime Minister P V Naraslmha Rao has brought in sweeping reforms over the past three years to chip away at four decades of socialist controls.

Ahluwalia said capital flows to the developing world had changed dramatically to include much, more private Monday, "we want to be .an attractive destination for those flows.” he said.